I am thinking of starting my next batch. Last(first) batch was several years ago and didn't turn out too well. I think, based on what I have read here, I didn't wait long enough. Anyway, my question is the instructions say to boil the water, then add the mix. Then put into fermenter with water already in fermentor. Everything I have read on here says the wort should then be boiled for up to an hour before being cooled and added. So, should I follow Mr. Beer instructions to boil the initial water, add mix, let wort cool, then add to fermentor? Or, should I boil water, add mix, then boil wort again, then add to fermentor?

You'll want to follow the Mr. Beer instructions for that part. Mr. Beer is a prehopped no boil kit. Basically you need to boil for a few reasons,

The main reason not to boil is because it will change the hop character in the beer. The longer you boil hops the less flavor and aroma you'll get and the more bitterness you'll get. Because Mr. Beer prehops their beer you don't want to change the hop character they've put into it, unless you know what you're doing.

To sanitize the wort. You're using liquid malt extract, which is canned and therefore sterilized at the factory and anything that you introduce will be sanitized by adding it to the boiled water.

There are a few other reasons that aren't important unless you're brewing all grain.

Thanks for the info! That definitely cleared it up. I appreciate your time. Hopefully soon, I will be back at it!

Quote:

Originally Posted by Tombstone0

You'll want to follow the Mr. Beer instructions for that part. Mr. Beer is a prehopped no boil kit. Basically you need to boil for a few reasons,

The main reason not to boil is because it will change the hop character in the beer. The longer you boil hops the less flavor and aroma you'll get and the more bitterness you'll get. Because Mr. Beer prehops their beer you don't want to change the hop character they've put into it, unless you know what you're doing.

To sanitize the wort. You're using liquid malt extract, which is canned and therefore sterilized at the factory and anything that you introduce will be sanitized by adding it to the boiled water.

There are a few other reasons that aren't important unless you're brewing all grain.

I am thinking of starting my next batch. Last(first) batch was several years ago and didn't turn out too well. I think, based on what I have read here, I didn't wait long enough. Anyway, my question is the instructions say to boil the water, then add the mix. Then put into fermenter with water already in fermentor. Everything I have read on here says the wort should then be boiled for up to an hour before being cooled and added. So, should I follow Mr. Beer instructions to boil the initial water, add mix, let wort cool, then add to fermentor? Or, should I boil water, add mix, then boil wort again, then add to fermentor?

If you're using one of the mixes, you don't want to bill after adding the HME. The reason you boil for an hour is to extract the bitterness from the hops. If you're using grains, you also need to drive off DMS. With the kids, these have already been done.

I've been brewing a few more Mr. Beer kits lately and i've had pretty good success so far.

Did the Diablo IPA with the extra LME softpack. Turned out very well, had good flavor and nice color. Seemed a little more malty than most IPA's.

Current one i have in the fridge is the American Patriot (Sam Adams lager style). Taste was a little lighter(forgot to pick up an extra softpack), but still tasted good, smooth.

Just bottled last week a Cherry Weiss, using the Bavarian Weissbier and dark cherries. First taste before bottling actually tasted very good, so we will see how well it does with the final fermenting with the sugar.
Also for this batch i picked up a bottle capper and used glass bottles for the first time.

You'll want to follow the Mr. Beer instructions for that part. Mr. Beer is a prehopped no boil kit. Basically you need to boil for a few reasons,

The main reason not to boil is because it will change the hop character in the beer. The longer you boil hops the less flavor and aroma you'll get and the more bitterness you'll get. Because Mr. Beer prehops their beer you don't want to change the hop character they've put into it, unless you know what you're doing.

To sanitize the wort. You're using liquid malt extract, which is canned and therefore sterilized at the factory and anything that you introduce will be sanitized by adding it to the boiled water.

There are a few other reasons that aren't important unless you're brewing all grain.

1. If the malt manufacturer has added real hops (flowers &/or pellets) in various stages, then boiling will change the bitterness/flavor/aroma profile. If the malt extract was bittered with hop extract rather than real hops (as is the case with many brands), boiling will not affect flavor/aroma. FWIW I believe Cooper's uses real hops.
2. Regarding "To sanitize the wort. You're using liquid malt extract, which is canned and therefore sterilized at the factory. . .", in theory - true. In practice, not necessarily. I have personally tasted many a nasty, nasty contaminated no boil beer. It's a bad idea! If you are not adding additional malt &/or hops, you don't have to bring the wort to a full boil, but I would highly recommend you at least bring the wort to 180°F for a minute or so, just to pasteurize the wort. This will insure that you've killed whatever little critters that may still lurk in there. It is not enough to simply heat the extract up just to dissolve in water. Bring it on up to 180° if for only a minute.
3. If you are adding additional malt to the recipe and, especially, if you are adding additional flavoring &/or bittering hops, you will want to boil. It's not just for all-grain.

I've been brewing a few more Mr. Beer kits lately and i've had pretty good success so far.

Did the Diablo IPA with the extra LME softpack. Turned out very well, had good flavor and nice color. Seemed a little more malty than most IPA's.

The likely reason the IPA seemed malty is that you added the additional malt (good idea), but no additional hops. The softpack contains unhopped malt extract which will increase the alcohol content and body of the beer. But, if you will actually taste the LME in the softpack, it will taste very sweet. While the yeast will eat most of the malt sugars in there, it will not eat all of them. The more unhopped malt extract you add to a recipe, the sweeter and maltier the resulting beer will taste. Conversely, the more hops you add to the kettle and boil, the more bitterness you will get. If you increase one without increasing the other, you will affect the sweet (malt)/bitter (hops) balance of the beer. This is fine, if it's what you want, but only if it's what you want. If you would like a bit more bite in the IPA, next time, along with the softpack, add maybe a half ounce of Fuggles or Goldings to the boil, a quarter ounce the last 5 - 10 minutes of the boil for flavor, and another quarter ounce at the end of the boil for aroma. This will give you the hop bite, flavor, & aroma of an IPA. If it's a bit much, just give it a little extra age to mellow out, but it's a starting point. Hope this helps.

One thing that I think they skip over pretty well is when and how long to add the hops for? Can someone shed some light on this? I've been adding them after I take the pot off of the heat and I feel that I'm going to be kicking myself in the butt for that.

One thing that I think they skip over pretty well is when and how long to add the hops for? Can someone shed some light on this? I've been adding them after I take the pot off of the heat and I feel that I'm going to be kicking myself in the butt for that.

If you're following one of the Mr beer recipes, you're doing it right. I think I read that they have some more advanced recipes that include hop boils, but if they do, they state that clearly in the instructions that come with the recipe.

The likely reason the IPA seemed malty is that you added the additional malt (good idea), but no additional hops. The softpack contains unhopped malt extract which will increase the alcohol content and body of the beer. But, if you will actually taste the LME in the softpack, it will taste very sweet. While the yeast will eat most of the malt sugars in there, it will not eat all of them. The more unhopped malt extract you add to a recipe, the sweeter and maltier the resulting beer will taste. Conversely, the more hops you add to the kettle and boil, the more bitterness you will get. If you increase one without increasing the other, you will affect the sweet (malt)/bitter (hops) balance of the beer. This is fine, if it's what you want, but only if it's what you want. If you would like a bit more bite in the IPA, next time, along with the softpack, add maybe a half ounce of Fuggles or Goldings to the boil, a quarter ounce the last 5 - 10 minutes of the boil for flavor, and another quarter ounce at the end of the boil for aroma. This will give you the hop bite, flavor, & aroma of an IPA. If it's a bit much, just give it a little extra age to mellow out, but it's a starting point. Hope this helps.

That's good info, thanks. I'll probably try one of their hops recipes in the future.